Watch Out for the 9 Signs of Dehydration

Our bodies are composed of a lot of water. For adult males, its 60% while for the ladies, its 55%. Imagine if the water levels go down significantly, all sorts of problems can set in. Whether you're physically active or just going about your everyday routine, you can get dehydrated. But how do you know you're already lacking fluids or just being affected by the summer heat? Watch out for the 9 signs of dehydration.

Always Hungry. Most of the time, thirst is mistaken for hunger. People unnecessarily eat rather than drink. This is because the part of the brain which indicates hunger and thirst is the same area. How do you know thirst from hunger? Hunger happens gradually, not suddenly. So if you become hungry all of a sudden, reach for a glass of water first and not for a sandwich.

Sudden Sweet Tooth. The lack of water reduces the liver's release of glycogens for energy. The brain sends this as craving signals, which you may interpret as a sign to grab a chocolate bar. When you have that craving, reach for a high water content snack, like a watermelon. Not only will your thirst be quenched, but you get to satisfy your sweet tooth in a natural way.

Dry Skin. Let's say you're out for a run. A good SPF cream will take care of your skin right? While it's true the cream moisturizes and protects, you also need good fluid intake to keep your skin from drying. Even the best moisturizer can't keep the skin from drying because of dehydration.

Cramps. If you're physically active, cramps are a good indicator that your fluids are on the low side. Muscles are composed of over 70 percent of water, imagine when you hit 40 percent or less because of sweating, muscles can cramp up. All that sweating depletes sodium and potassium levels as well, so besides water, a sports drink may be necessary.

Dry Mouth and Smelly Breath. Salivary glands use water to produce saliva, when there is a low supply, the glands reduce production significantly, leaving you with a dry mouth. But it does not stop there, the lack of saliva and warm environment promotes bacteria build up which then results in bad breath.

Headaches and Dizziness. There is a fluid sack which envelops the brain, protecting it from the impact of sudden blows. If the fluid sack's water level significantly decreases, expect severe headaches. Also, when you're dehydrated, there is a tendency for your blood pressure to decrease, leaving you dizzy. Some even experience disorientation.

Reduced Sweat. This one's a bit more basic, you don't drink much and you're dehydrated, your body can barely produce sweat even on a very hot day.

No Twinkle in your Tinkle. Urine is another indicator of dehydration. If you have dark urine, and has a really pungent smell, then you lack fluids. Urine should be clear or light yellow. Some vitamins and medicine can affect the color of your urine, but they will only make it into a darker shade of yellow.

Constipation. Your bowels need enough water to successful pass stool, without it you'll be constipated. Being well hydrated also helps your intestines absorb nutrients from digested food.

What's your best option to prevent dehydration? Well, you can always buy bottled water, but in the long run you'll be throwing away lots of money and adding plastic to landfills. So you're better off buying a reusable drinking bottle, like the ones made by Laken.

Laken drinking bottles are reusable, safe and environment-friendly. It's great for adults and kids alike. You can check out the reusable bottles at your favorite online shop.

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The ultimate goal with fitness shouldn't be to live your life tied down to a super strict meal plan, living on chicken and broccoli, avoiding tempting social situations and/or training militantly with little enjoyment. That feels stifling, and is not really facilitating your best health and life.

Instead, the goal should be to train yourself to live healthfully and in alignment with your fit life values-without having to obsess. You can then trust that you will make wise decisions using your inherent knowledge. I call this following your fitness intuition. To reach this point, some training must be done!

Step 1. "Power is the faculty or capacity to act, the strength and potency to accomplish something. It is the vital energy to make choices and decisions. It also includes the capacity to overcome deeply embedded habits and to cultivate higher, more effective ones." Stephen R. Covey

Break old, unhealthy habits and install new ones. To do so, you must fully commit to a nutrition and training plan. BUT you should not just follow it blindly. Be engaged, interact with others, and find a friend or family member to join you on your fitness adventure. Staying engaged in the process and learning what works for you builds the foundations for your fit-life future.

Use mindfulness to assess how you actually feel while you are eating certain foods, when you feel hungry or full, energy levels, how certain exercises feel, etc.

For example, when I first started my health and fitness journey I realized that I loved making an omelet every morning and serving it with oatmeal and fruit or toast and fruit. I always felt energetic, satisfied and satiated (comfortably full) after that meal. Few years later and I still start my day off with that combo daily.

Step 2. "All the so-called "secrets of success" will not work unless you do."

It is so difficult to establish new habits with a wishy-wash work ethic. You must fully commit with your head AND your heart. When you think about why want to change, it should fire you up. "To lose weight" isn't motivating enough. However, "Feeling confident in my own skin" or "Being able to play with my grandkids" are much more powerful. So, dig deep for you real reason WHY, then get moving don't look back.

Step 3. "Fear is the path to the dark side." -Yoda

We have all been there before. Worrying about how vacation would set you back, if you might come unglued at a special event, etc. In effort to control one of these fear-inducing situations, we often create unrealistic expectations of ourselves like vowing to do two-a-days throughout a vacation r slashing calories drastically during an injury recovery. Guess what happens when you do this? We make ourselves miserable worrying about it and/or our fears become a reality. This is not following your fitness intuition, which leads me too..

Step 4. "I believe I deserve to be fit, as healthy as I can be, as well as look my best. All those things make me a more productive human being, and actually able to serve others better than ever before. When I am at my best, it is easier to put my best efforts forward. I'm also taken more seriously because people see that I respect myself."

At some point on our fitness journey, we must take off the training wheels and realized we can continue to live fit without perfect conditions or following an inflexible plan. We must trust our innate wisdom - the intuition that will set us on the right course if we just tap into it.

Build your fitness foundation. Learn what works for you and what doesn't. Be open and honest with your trainer, family and friends to help assist you in your goals. Don't settle for anything less than satisfactory, and the most important advice of all: BE CONSISTENT. Treat each workout session like it was your job. You wouldn't be late for work or skip a day just because "You were too busy", find time to better yourself and JUST DO IT!

Follow your heart and believe in what you do.

I believe I am following my heart and living my passion by helping others find the confidence they need to take on anything in life. I start at the root of the problem--focusing on their goals, wants and needs, set each of my clients up with a plan that works (because it is tailored to their goals), then dive into strengthening their mine, body and soul through fitness, nutrition and health!

Human beings are the only creatures able to shed tears in response to emotional stress. This is what makes us different from animals. But because of social, cultural or parental influence, crying makes us feel embarrassed and uncomfortable. How often have we heard the admonition "Big boys don't cry." It is dinned into the minds of children, that crying signifies weakness. An advertisement on TV showed how a boy who throughout his growing years was reminded that 'boys don't cry.' He grew into an emotionally repressed adult and became moody, glum and short tempered. Later in life he turned into a tyrant and wife batterer and was convicted for domestic violence.

In ancient literature we read about great heroes who were not afraid to cry. Achilles cried at the death of his friend Petroclus. Aneas wept for the loss of his friends and companions in war. In Egyptian mythology Isis wept for the dead Osiris. In the Bible, we read that Jesus wept at the tomb of Lazarus. In recent times Presidents like Theodore Roosevelt, Ronald Regan, Clinton and Bush (Sr) have been known to shed tears in public. So crying is not just the prerogative of women. Males also shed tears in public, disputing the belief that 'boys don't cry.' Of course women cry more readily than men. But girls who break into sobs at the slightest provocation are called 'cry babies' and even suspected of emotional instability. Neurotics cry easily and alexithymics don't cry at all.

God has endowed human beings with a gamut of emotions - to feel, to cry, to be happy or sad or angry. Crying is a healthy response to some of life's problems. We shed tears of joy when we are happy. People who receive unexpected awards or recognition are overwhelmed with tears of joy. Some people cry out of frustration. Children, who cannot have their way or cannot retaliate against elders, exhibit their frustration through tantrums. But usually crying is associated with grief. The loss of a loved one or a job or a business or even a pet are hurtful psychological experiences which create a great deal of stress. Tears are one way to relieve tension and initiate the process of healing.

Crying is a normal response to bereavement. When sadness reaches a peak of intensity, tears bring therapeutic release. Once the crying stops the body relaxes, heart rate slows, breathing becomes regular and blood pressure is back to normal. So crying is actually a transitional point between tension and feeling better. It will not make problems disappear but will help put them in perspective so that one can deal with them in a level headed way.

Even 2000 years ago the Greeks and Romans were aware that shedding of tears relieved tension. "It is a relief to weep. Grief is satisfied and carried off by tears," said the poet Ovid. Aristotle was of the opinion that crying "cleanses the mind" of suppressed emotions. Freud and Breuer considered crying "an involuntary reflex to relieve tension and allow blocked negative emotions to be released."

Professor William Frey of the University of Minnesota in his study said that chemicals which build up during emotional stress are removed through tears. Tears associated with emotions have a higher level of certain proteins and chemicals such as magnesium and potassium. Manganese which affects moods was found to be thirty times of greater concentration in tears than in blood serum. So unalleviated stress was likely to cause heart attacks or even damage certain areas of the brain.

The presence of the hormone Prolactin in tears explains why women cry more easily than men.

Alexander Fleming (discoverer of Penicillin) did a chemical analysis of tears and found that they contain an enzyme Lysozyme which dissolves the outer coat of many bacteria. Through suppression of tears we may suffer both physical and emotional consequences.

Weeping is not weakness. Those who put on a brave front and bottle up their emotions are merely internalizing their pain and suffer symptoms like headache, peptic ulcers, high blood pressure, irritability or depression. Inability to cry can make a person dysfunctional. Men giving vent to tears is now acceptable in society. In Japan they call it the 'crying boom' encouraging people to express their emotions.

God has placed in our bodies a natural provision for relief of tension and grief. Everyone grieves differently depending on one's personality, coping skills, faith, nature of loss and tradition. In some cultures it is okay to cry loudly without inhibitions and make a show of their grief. I witnessed a death in a Khurdish community in Iran. It was frightening to see women tearing their hair, clawing at their cheeks to draw blood and rolling on the ground, and screaming. They believed that the departed soul would rest in peace knowing how dearly he or she was loved.

Therapeutic Value of tears:

• Crying is something personal. It is not an exhibition of grief but a physical manifestation of internal emotions.

• It is the beginning of a process of dealing with sadness. "We are healed of suffering only when we experience it the full," said Marcel Proust.

• Crying helps to visualize a new scenario for our lives. It helps accept that our loss is real and even while we continue to grieve, we begin to envisage a life without the person we have lost.

• Crying is cathartic. It releases toxins and pent up emotions, helping us to handle our loss instead of being afraid of it.

• Crying is effective in starting the process of healing. "It is not only a human response to sorrow and frustration but a healthy one," says William Frey. According to his study 85% of women and 75% of men felt less angry or sad after crying. In Ancient Middle East mourners would collect their tears in wineskins and place them on the tomb of their loved ones.

• Crying may also be a call for support from relatives and friends. "Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted," says the Bible. Friends and relatives should allow the griever to vent his pain and help validate his grief.

Our grief can change dramatically when we accept God's unconditional love and His provision for our lives. Our tears are never in vain as King David said, "You have collected all my tears and preserved them in your bottle. You have recorded them in your book." (Psalms 56: 18)

We need to be grateful for the Gift of Tears.

BioEva Bell is a Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists,She is a freelance writer, and her articles, short stories and children's stories have been published in magazines, newspapers, on the Net, and in several anthologies.She is the author of:Novels - "Silver Amulet," "When Shadows Flee," "Halo of Deceit," "Runaway Widow" "Power Surge in Eden."Non-Fiction- "Grace Abounding," "Womanism- The Adventure of being a Woman."Children's Books: "Lost on the beach," "Sniffer Dog and other stories." "Wandering into Wonderland."E-books: Cactus Hill, Survival Strategies in an Angry World, Storm in the Des

The health and motivation for shift work has been known to have its own peculiar demands. This has set it apart from jobs that have traditional hours of work. Shift work has its own health merits. The shift work has been created to aid workflow processes between employer, employee and tasks at hand. Over the years, it has been noticed that workers identified in shift work often receive better health plans, health products and remuneration and by this, give shift workers time to do other tasks or personal chores while being watchful of individual mental health.

However, the scientific and medical communities report continually that shift workers concerned stand an increased risk of certain health disorders and mental health challenges that have severe negative impact on the general well-being of work shift staff which may not be achieved until the right health products are used.

There is a concern for the 9 to 5ers, as one sees a case of the health of those who barely get by with the hard life of routine which most times is viewed to compensate only the boss at the top. Furthermore, we sought to consider those who work less conventional hours that include working shifts at night. Any way it is looked at, an adequate welfare plan should be in place for them while introducing supplements of health products.

Researchers have discovered that those more at risk of suffering certain mental health challenges and chronic ailments or diseases, are shift workers, such as flight attendants, police officers, doctors, bartenders, nurses, and the like. Shift work can be classified as any type of work schedule that involves hours that are uncommon, or unusual when comparing this type of work schedule with the traditional work schedule that occurs within the day between 6 am and 6 pm.

For clarity, the term shift work can refer to rotating shifts, working overnight, evening shifts and other flexible shift patterns desired or arranged by the employer that also addresses the challenge of mental health in shift work platforms. In other to assist shift workers, first aid boxes can be kept handy and filled with health products for shift workers.

It's been recorded by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), that over 16.8% salary workers and full-time wage workers are employed to work alternative shifts. Another interesting discovery made is that evening shifts are the most common alternative shifts, which have their working hours starting at between 2 pm and midnight. Work schedules may also constantly change as a result of irregular work shifts that also result in mental health and hormonal imbalances.

In this article, we take a look at what the resultant effects of what shift work are, what shift workers can potentially do in other to lower their risks of diverse health problems and what salient reasons could possibly be behind these findings. The mental health and prescribed health products of shift workers should not be left unaddressed as this plays an important role in the health and total well-being of the workers.

At first glance, it appears as though shift workers have and work different hours compared to the regular workers' typical 9-to-5 routine. Reports also show that this is not the only underlying factor, as one key factor also is an increased risk of some diseases.

Some medical associations such as the Medical News Today have reported on studies that relate lack of usage of health products and increased risk of certain health problems with shift work. These relationships have seen discoveries ranging from the predictable to the most amazing jaw-dropping situations.

A reputable medical journal published a meta-analysis in 2014 which suggested that shift workers face an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. This is a red flag. Taking into consideration, shift workers rotating shifts also face an increased risk of 42%. So we see a need for the inclusion of health products as ready supplements for shift workers.

Interestingly, shift workers who rotate night shifts for 15 years and above were found to potentially increase the health risk of lung cancer mortality and poor mental health. The use of health products will aid these situations enhance longevity and maintenance.

Another likely factor that shift workers have in common is disruption to the sleep-wake cycle. Many have lost their basic means of livelihood because they had mental health conditions. Shift workers have been noticed to sleep at strange times of the day. This eventually results in their having reduced amounts or in severe cases they suffer insomnia. For such cases, health products can be recommended. Read more at